Why this sudden bewilderment, this confusion?
(How serious people’s faces have become)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
Everyone going home lost in thought?
Because night has fallen and the barbarians haven’t come.
And some of our men just in from the border say
There are no barbarians any longer.
Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?
These people were a kind of a solution.
- C.P. Cavafy, Waiting for the Barbarians, 1898
A potted history of the New World Order‚Ñ¢:
1989: Velvet Revolutions
Atheistic communism has been defeated. There are no barbarians any longer.
2005: Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace
Titanic struggles for democracy, civilisations clash, enemies attack us from within, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse stalk the insecure homeland.
————————————————————-
I’m grateful to Tom Nairn for the poem. In his new book with Paul James Global Matrix, he looks at the response of ordinary Americans to s11 (much the same could have been said about Londoners more recently). He finds hope in the determined effort to carry on. His argument differs a little from what he hear most often though. Nairn is suggesting that getting on with our lives, refusing to believe in the crazed and hyperbolic discourses of terror and war and enmity swirling above our heads, is in itself an act of political courage. It’s time, he argues, to put the mad rantings of our masters in perspective, the better to combat them on one hand, and to truly live our freedoms on the other.
A useful reflection perhaps after a week of values talk, and in light of stories like this one.
You’re right.
We should refuse to believe in the crazed and hyperbolic discourses of the HREOC, the Ethnic Communities Council, and The Age.
They are attempting to distract us from serious realities with their fictitious politically-motivated whingeing and slander of Australians.
The real enemies are Islamic fundamentalism, its apologists, and those who would have us ignoring a growing threat from without and within.
EP, where would you be without your barbarians?
Dug the poem, tks Kim (and Tom N, who’s always worth a read).
I’m thinking I should read more Cavafy, Chris!
It’s dog whistling of the worst order reminiscent of Tampa. With any future terrorist attack within Australia, the spadework for a vilification campaign for political wedging has begun again.
People like EP, Observa and the shock jocks, unreconstructed Hansonites, assorted racist morons, various thugs and criminals will be just itching to go after anybody of Middle Eastern appearance, verbally and/or otherwise.
The catchcry then, on the basis of incitement of the lowest common denominator, especially if some Muslims ‘dare’ to defend themselves from attack in the streets, will be ”Kill the Muslims” .
But that’s what you and the Howard ilk really want to provoke, isn’t it EP?
So might I Kim. Tom Nairn is also an very talented writer, although I was introduced to him and Perry Anderson via E P Thompson’s famous takedown of both, “The Peculiarities of the English”. I always think it one of the great political-historiographical miscalculations in history that Anderson and Nairn ousted EPT from the board of the New Left Review in 1962, only to find themselves promptly buried under the publication of Thompson’s magnificent The Making of the English Working Class in 1963. Still, Perry and Tom have been great contributors and the latter’s colloration with Paul James looks well worth a squiz.
Nairn is a very punchy writer indeed, Chris - I first discovered him through his book on the monarchy.
The collaboration with James is interesting - in that they write chapters separately and bounce off each other.
The poem is also the basis for the wonderful novel of the same name by JM Coetzee. I laughed when I saw the front page of the Weekend Oz yesterday proclaiming him as “our” greatest author. We are shameless, least its not a Kiwi this time I guess.
I’ve given up on the Oz, even the Weekend Oz. The only thing I miss is Bill Leak.
Amanda did you see that doco on ABC or was it SBS on Coetzee? I’ve forgotten how long he’s been here.
So who is our greatest author?
Robert Hughes/Manning Clark/ Banjo Patterson?(to name a few) How can one choose?
Thomas Kennealy ”Schindlers Ark” I’ll never forget.
I prefer Paddy White/Stuart Macintyre/Henry Lawson, respectively.
And I’ll go Christopher Koch over Kennealy, to continue this run of contraryness.
From among the family heirlooms, I have an original copy of ”Up the Country”
by Brent of Bin Bin alias Miles Franklin. (no dust jacket curses)
Missed the doco Peter, I’ll keep an eye out. He’s been here three or four years I think. Happy to have him, but it just seems like South Africa should get the credit ….
Peter, your sad little attempt at perjorative labelling is even less effective in 2005 than it would have been in 1996.
The chains of political correctness have been broken and the likes of you can no longer suppress free thought. Too much reality has seeped in to the public consciousness for the bad old days to be revived as you would wish.
Yeah Amanda, it was good, showed his childhood area in the boondocks probably helped in that independence of mind that a thinking voortrekker has.
I’ll accept the Oz claiming Coetzee only if they DISOWN Rupert.
Not political correctness at all EP, it’s ‘reality’ variations on a theme to incite violence. Perjorative indeed, self explanatory under the law. See under Crimes Acts 1900 (NSW) for example.
So who is inciting violence — apart from the Imams who praise terrorists as “martyrs”?
Variations on a theme. You haven’t yet denied you want blood on the streets either.
As far as that goes, you haven’t denied that you want blood on the streets, Peter.
Well EP keep going, by all means use your free speech for the public record.
If as above, there is Muslim blood on the streets, which hate merchants on the record go to the top of which list and held by who?
Well, Peter, that would depend on the circumstances.
If the blood on the streets is that of Muslim suicide bombers, then the advocates of multiculturalism would bear much of the responsibility.
Must go and check to see if consorting has been redefined for online application.
That’s a worry. Could I be held liable for hanging around with people like you?
‘Ethnic Communities Council chairman Phong Nguyen says these statements are provocative and encourage prejudice.
“Racism is getting worse because of a lack of moral leadership,” he said. “Instead of reining in ministers who evoke the Hanson era, the Prime Minister seems to have a cynical agenda to let them run loose.
“This is breaking my heart. I love this country with a passion, but since the Tampa and 9/11 we’ve gone from a position of international respect in relation to race and human rights to a laughing stock.”‘
From the linked article we get this poppycock. How do we know it’s a load of sentimentalist drivel by the self loathers? Precisely because a recent international survey showed Oz as the most sought after place to visit and migrate to and Johnny Howard got the biggest tick among world leaders. Still, it’s not about truth, it’s all about being passionate about one’s beliefs, even if the world disagrees with you.
That survey was conducted in Europe, observa, and it’s the same one that found the respondents like Australia because they thought it was a lot like Sweden.
The article’s based on complaints by Australians to the Equal Opportunity Commission, as well as the opinions of ethnic leaders.
“This is breaking my heart. I love this country with a passion, but since the Tampa and 9/11 we‚Äôve gone from a position of international respect in relation to race and human rights to a laughing stock.”"
This is the poppycock statement Mark.
And if you make such poppycock statements, we are entitled to presume you don’t know what you’re talking about more generally.
I don’t see that the statement is poppycock, observa, and the stats speak for themselves. But as you say in your original comment:
…
So I wouldn’t expect you to engage with the facts.
Mark, you and Phong are entitled to believe your little world has crashed after Tampa and 9/11, but to imply that Australia has generally lost international respect as a result of that, flies in the face of survey evidence. You may not like their view of Australia, but they are also entitled to hold it, and you and Phong not lie about whether they hold that view.
observa, please go back and follow my link to the description of the purpose and nature of the survey - you’re really distorting them.
I’m not necessarily saying I agree entirely with Phong, though.
One would also think that Australia’s reputation among the international community was what was being talked about.
One would also think that Australia’s reputation among the international community was what was being talked about.
A reputation that has never been better, despite the concerted attempts of the professional multiculturalists and their media mates to drag it down into the mud with them.
Surveys or no surveys, the one thing we do know is lots of different people are prepared to put their lives at risk in leaky boats to get to racially discriminatory Oz, but not to bastions of tolerance like Vietnam. Come to think of it, Oz loathing Phong wasn’t one of them was he? Of course if he finds this country so oppressive there is a simple solution isn’t there Phong? Wouldn’t I like to have the rights to auction his Oz citizenship position to the good citizens of Vietnam eh? How do you reckon Phong would go trying to auction off Vietnamese citizenship to all those Australians who loathe Hansonia? Slim pickings compared to my instant millionaire licence.
“Nairn is suggesting that getting on with our lives, refusing to believe in the crazed and hyperbolic discourses of terror and war and enmity swirling above our heads, is in itself an act of political courage. It‚Äôs time, he argues, to put the mad rantings of our masters in perspective, the better to combat them on one hand, and to truly live our freedoms on the other.”
Of course if the fundies manage to wipe out a few hundred thousand of us in one hit with WMD, we trust there will be no mad rantings from Nairn and he’ll put the problems of his masters in protecting him, completely into perspective and carry on calmly and understandingly as usual. Yeah, riiiiight!
Beware the Phong, O,
It tolls for thee!
[Apologies: Donne, Hemingway, Sinistro and, well, everyone]
Fyodor, is Homercles hiding from us re the source of the shorter apocalypse?
Doubt it. Homerkles is not so much into hiding as receiving one. Besides, wherever punning is distracting and unnecessary, he’ll be there. He’s more predictable on that score than a RWDB on Iraq.
Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more…
Fyodor you are tampaing with my emotions.
Been there Donne that.
oh do not ask what is it?
Let us go and make out visit.
oh dear my minister has been de-prufrocked!
I thought Howard’s border protection policies stopped all the leaky boats, observa.
Homercles, did you have any homerwork for us? Its ok if you didn’t.
Peter,
you are not allowed to call me that.
Anymore and you will sent off to bootkemp!
now I am al petered out
Did I call it, or what? He’s like a Homering pigeon.
A paxt on both your houses.
Alas poor Fyodor
I knew him well, a man of most excellent fancy but after that grave suggestion
I must leave.
Homerkles, we understand duty calls:
”In the outer Barcoo where the churches were few
And men of religion were scanty.”
We’ll say ”coming ready or not” later.